Lean Green Practices Research Articles

Developing a conceptual model to implement green lean practices in Indian manufacturing industries using ISM-MICMAC approach

PurposeLean and green strategies are good options to increase the environmental and operational performance of manufacturing industries. The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) to implement green lean practices (GLPs) in manufacturing industries through the review of the literature and to develop a conceptual model after analysing the fundamental facilitating factors by using ISM-MICMAC approach.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology consists of identifying 12 critical success factors (CSFs) for the green lean implementation by reviewing the relevant available literature. The views of eight experts are valued for inter-relationships of these factors. ISM-MICMAC approach is used for analysing the relations between factors and to develop a conceptual model for green lean implementation.FindingsTwelve CSFs are identified through a review of the literature to adopt GLPs in manufacturing industries. This paper has established the relationships among 12 identified CSFs using the ISM methodology. This paper analyses the dependence power and the driving power of identified CSFs with the help of MICMAC analysis. “Top management commitment” and “Government support” are the most significant CSFs implement GLPs successfully.Research limitations/implicationsThe ISM model presented in this study is based on expert opinions. But expert opinions may be biased as these are based on their own judgements. However, the proposed ISM based model needs statistically validations. The ISM model in the present study may be tested in real-world situations of manufacturing industries where results obtained may be different.Practical implicationsThis study may provide a useful input for academicians and managers of industries to differentiate between independent and dependent CSFs and their mutual relationships which would help them to focus on those key CSFs that are most significant to implement GLPs.Originality/valueA conceptual ISM model of identified CSFs shows the different levels of these CSFs. This model may help the manufacturer to implement the green-lean strategies. It may also support policymakers towards adopting GLPs. Arranging CSFs in a hierarchy and to categorise the CSFs into different levels with the help of ISM-MICMAC is an exclusive effort in the area of green lean engagement.

Lean-green performance management in Indian SMEs: a novel perspective using the best-worst method approach

PurposeIn a globalized environment, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are facing formidable challenges. Not only do they have to keep up their profitability, but there is also a pressure from various stakeholders to add to their environmental and quality performance .The solution obviously lies in continuously adopting and improving upon lean-green practices in their operations. This work aims at identifying, classifying and building up a duly tested robust ranked-order model of such “enablers”, related to lean-green practices, that puts them (the enablers) in an order of being the most significant to being the least significant further to be accorded the same or similar weight in strategy formulation and implementation stage by Indian SMEs for enhancing their overall organizational performance.Design/methodology/approachThe study identifies 20 enablers (12 lean and 08 green manufacturing enablers) through extensive literature review and experts' opinion survey and classifies them into three main categories. The ranking and significance of each of the main and subcategory enablers is evaluated according to its weight which is determined by the best-worst method (BWM) approach, one of the novel multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. Further, the results have been drawn after running accuracy check of the rankings (based upon optimal weights) and testing the robustness of the ranked-order model through sensitivity analysis.FindingsThe results of this study reveal that out of the three main category enablers, “operational performance enablers (E1)” and “quality performance enablers (E3)” are the most and the least significant enablers, while in the group of 20 subcategory enablers, “Kaizen (E17)” and “environment emission control (E28)” are the most and the least significant subcategory enablers, respectively.Practical implicationsThe prioritization model or ranked-order model of the lean-green manufacturing enablers proposed through this study may serve as a standard model to managers to help them decide and allocate their efforts and resources accordingly in managing their operations. This will also help them adopt high-ranking lean-green manufacturing enablers in their firms and benchmark and standardize their existing practices accordingly, leading to greater competitive advantage.Originality/valueThe study identifies various green-lean manufacturing enablers in SMEs, classifies them into three main categories and ranks them using BWM approach. The findings of this study should be extremely relevant to managers, manufacturing engineers and practitioners in Indian SMEs from the perspective of developing deeper appreciation of these enablers as per their relative ranked importance to further formulating an effective and efficient strategy for their implementation resulting in optimal results.

Green Lean Practices towards Increasing Operation Value of Manufacturing Company

Nowadays, manufacturing industries are rapidly developing. However the constraints faced by today's producers are how to produce their products quickly through low costs while at the same time, the reduction of waste disposal in the environment. The high waste of time in the manufacturing industry is often attributed to the wastage that occurred in the company’s operations. Lean manufacturing is linked for improving the standard working. It is one of the production strategies that drive the industry towards a more efficient production of goods and services. Meanwhile, green manufacturing has been adopted as a requirement to achieve a minimal negative impact on the environment. The green lean is a concept to make sure system more efficient, reduce unwanted product releases and minimize the environmental impact. So, the main objective of this research is to reduce cycle time in manufacturing company by adopting green lean elements. This research focuses on furniture manufacturing and conducted a structural interview question, observation and time study method. To refine those time operation problems, the company had implemented the new green lean practices into the operation department. The results after implement these methods totally show an improved progress. The paper would help the manufacturer to organize and improve their company performance. In conclusion, this research is about to identify and reduce the time waste to improve the operation value of the manufacturing company while at the same time it would reduce the environmental impact in future.

Influence of lean–green practices on organizational sustainable performance

PurposeThe key objectives of this study were to investigate the interactions among the lean, green management practices and organizational sustainable performance measures and explore the possibility of simultaneous implementation of these concepts for improving the organizational sustainable performance.Design/methodology/approachUsing the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) technique, the interactions among the lean, green practices and organizational sustainable performance measures were established. A focus group which consisted of purposively selected 15 experts was utilized in the primary data collection.FindingsIn Sri Lankan context, water and material consumption reduction, energy efficiency, water pollution and greenhouse gas reduction were identified as the dominant green practices, while pull production, lot size reduction, continuous improvement, preventive maintenance, employee involvement and cycle time reduction were the dominant lean practices. Inventory level, profitability, quality, cost, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, lead time, resources consumption (material, water, energy) and waste generation were determined as the dominant sustainable performance measures. The resulting ISM-based structural model which consisted of eight levels concluded that firstly lean practices influence the green practices and afterward green practices affect the sustainable performance measures.Research limitations/implicationsThe aim of this study was to develop a hypothetical structural model to explain the interactions among the lean, green management practices and organizational sustainable performance measures. But this hypothetical model was not empirically tested in the current study. So further study is required to empirically test the proposed model.Practical implicationsCurrently organizations who practice for sustainable performance engages, lean and green practices separately without understanding on which practices are stared when and how. So, through the findings of this study, organization who desire to improve the sustainable performance are recommended to begin the journey with lean practices and subsequently move in to green and handle both lean and green initiatives through one functional unit.Originality/valueThe existing literature does not possess a model for explaining the lean–green synergy and organizational sustainable performance and this study successfully fills this gap. Also the study proposes for the practitioners, when and how the lean and green practices should be initiated and implemented for rising the sustainable performance of an organization.

Understanding the key performance parameters of green lean performance in manufacturing industries

The estimation and monitoring of key performance parameters of Green Lean in the manufacturing sector have recently attracted considerable attention. Performance measurement is an essential practice for measuring manufacturing industries’ competitiveness. In this era of global competitiveness and customer expectations, manufacturing firms face various challenges. To solve these challenges, researchers in the academic and manufacturing world have observed a keen interest in green lean manufacturing practices. The concept of lean manufacturing was developed to maximize the use of resources and minimize waste at all manufacturing activities. On the other hand, Green concept in manufacturing sector relates to the environmental and social concerns. The manufacturing firms strive to find and improve output performance by using key performance parameters to find the possibilities in Green-lean concepts in the manufacturing sector. The purpose of this study is to identify and examine the various key performance parameters (KPPs) of Green-Lean practices in manufacturing industries. Future research will focus on ranking these KPPs of green lean manufacturing using appropriate Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) technique.

Analyzing barriers of Green Lean practices in manufacturing industries by DEMATEL approach

PurposeGreen Lean concepts offer methods for managing manufacturing organizations with the goal of improving organizational performance. Green Lean practices are good options to increase the environmental and operational performance of manufacturing industries. However, there are some barriers to implement Green Lean in manufacturing industries. This paper aims to identify these barriers by reviewing the literature and analyze inter-relationships amongst selected barriers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper deals with the identification of barriers to the adoption of Green Lean practices in manufacturing industries. Using the DEMATEL approach and using the insights of experts, a cause and effect relationship diagram was generated through which the effect of barriers was analyzed.FindingsTwelve barriers were categorized in terms of cause and effect, and the interrelationships of barriers were also analyzed. Threshold value is calculated as 0.134 and the values lower than a were eliminated to obtain the digraph. “Resistance to change,” “lack of top management commitment” and “lack of training to employees” are the most prominent barriers on the basis of their prominent score.Research limitations/implicationsAnalysis in the research is highly dependent on expert judgments and opinions may be biased. However, the initial matrix obtained from the experts is hindered by the ambiguity about some relationships. But this can be improved by using fuzzy and grey set theories. The barriers used for the analysis are not from a specific type of manufacturing industry.Practical implicationsThe findings will help the manufacturing organizations to simplify the most important barriers, the least significant barriers and the relationships between these barriers. This Berlin knowledge will enable administrators to increase awareness of the barriers in Green Lean implementation. “The top management commitment” and “government support” are most important for the removal of barriers to Green Lean strategies.Originality/valueVery few scholars have used the DEMATEL approach to examine the sequence of the barriers to Green Lean implementation. The present study attempts to incorporate the DEMATEL model to assess the sequence of barriers to the implementation of Green Lean. This study investigates the degree of influence of barriers on each other and categorizes the barriers into cause and effect groups. This study is also intended to pave the way for future research in the path of the elimination of barriers to Green Lean strategies.

Assessment of lean-green practices on the sustainable performance of hotel supply chains

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the impact of integrated lean and green practices on the sustainable (environmental, economic and social) performance of a hotel supply chain.Design/methodology/approachLiterature review and previous exploratory studies were used to develop a hypothesized model that characterizes the integrated lean and green (LeGreen) impact on supply chain sustainability. A case study of a large sample of the UAE hotels is used to collect and analyze empirical data, validate the measurement model and test study hypotheses using structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe results showed that three major lean techniques (Kaizen, quality and productive maintenance) and three green techniques (health and safety, waste disposal and green certifications) have substantial impact on the sustainable performance of hotel supply chains. Further results revealed that LeGreen impacts are complementary. Lean techniques have the highest impact on the economic performance of the hotel supply chain and the least impact on the environmental performance. Green practices, on the other hand, have opposite impacts.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the study findings may vary in different contexts, study methodology and measurement model can be adapted to assess the LeGreen impact on the sustainable performance of hotel supply chains, as well as other service industries such as banking and health care.Practical implicationsThe proposed assessment model is expected to be of great value toward the effective implementation of LeGreen practices across hotel supply chains in the UAE and globally. The study findings also provide guidelines for practitioners within the hospitality sector to undertake the proposed model and to adapt it for assessing and enhancing sustainable performance in other sectors of the service industry.Originality/valueThere is a growing emphasis by practitioners and academics on measuring the impact of LeGreen on the sustainable performance of service supply chains. However, the assessment of LeGreen impacts within the context of a hotel supply chain remains unexplored with a scarcity of comprehensive assessment frameworks. This study aims to fulfill this gap in literature and provide directions for researchers to expand the proposed model and to further analyze the integrated lean-green impact on the sustainability of supply chains of hotels and the service industry.

Interdependence analysis of lean-green implementation challenges: a case of Indian SMEs

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the critical success factors (CSFs) behind the successful implementation of lean-green practices in Indian small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachThe analysis employs two modeling approaches such as interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and interpretive ranking process (IRP) for examining the contextual relationships among the CSFs and ranks them with respect to key lean-green performance areas. A critical review of literature has led to the identification of total 25 CSFs for lean-green implementation. The list is reduced to 18 most relevant CSFs for the context of Indian SMEs based on experts’ (from industry and academia) opinions. The ISM is utilized to develop ten-level hierarchical model of CSFs. In order to gain greater insights into the nature of variables, the matrix of cross-impact multiplications applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis has been conducted.FindingsThe results show “Government support” as the most significant to the successful lean-green implementation in Indian SMEs and it is placed at the base of the ISM hierarchy. The CSF “Green disposal initiatives” is identified at the top level of the ISM hierarchy. Further, MICMAC analysis identifies five independent variables, eight linkages variables, four dependent variables and none autonomous variable. This may help SME managers to decide about resource priorities toward successful implementation of lean-green initiatives. Subsequently, the IRP has examined the dominance relationship and identifies “Organizational capabilities” as the most significant CSF.Practical implicationsThis research intends to enable practitioners in prioritizing and managing strategic and tactical challenges involved in lean-green implementation in Indian SMEs.Originality/valueThis study makes an initial attempt in analyzing factors critical to successful implementation of integrated lean and green manufacturing practices in Indian manufacturing SMEs using ISM. The analysis is further enhanced by applying IRP to rank the CSFs by investigating the influence lean-green integration on various performance measures.